Coming up with a business idea, or even creating your first product, is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to starting a business. There’s so much more in store for us as business owners (and not all of it is a walk in the park).

Take Dr. Garima Jain: she created a skincare product for her 3-month-old son after noticing he had severe eczema. For Garima, creating the product was a process in itself—let alone marketing and selling it. (Another story entirely.)

The way Garima tells it, you could have the best product in the world, but if you can’t clearly articulate your vision to your audience, your product won’t stand a chance.

Allow me to introduce Founder, Dr. Garima Jain…

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So, who are you and what’s your business?

I am Garima, and I am the founder of the skincare brand RaGaNaturals. I am a mother of two beautiful boys and a natural lifestyle enthusiast, and I have Ph.D. in Biotechnology.

RaGaNaturals is a very normal and back-to-basics brand. Our products are mostly natural and have a very simple and minimalist ingredient list. We are very different from other brands. We don’t do anything exotic and don’t use various extracts or potions. No, an average human doesn’t need exotic and complicated skincare in daily life. Skincare is a process, not magic.

What is your backstory and what inspired you to come up with / pursue this idea?

RaGaNaturals is a gift from my then 3-month-old son. Shortly after my elder son was born, he had very dry skin and severe eczema. We were desperately looking for something from the shelf that could help control the symptoms, but every other cream was just irritating his skin.

Then I started to read about cosmetic formulations and understand the differences in various formulations. But unfortunately, the ingredient list in commercially available body lotions/creams is so long, it was torture to understand it.

This is when I got the idea to remove the unnecessary ingredients from the creams and replace most of the ingredients with their natural substitutes. The inner scientist of this new mom took over, and after an intensive literature survey and lots of trials and sleepless nights, I was able to formulate a cream that was very gentle and moisturizing with minimum ingredients. It was very effective for my son’s sensitive skin.

RaGaNaturals products give a fresh perspective to skincare. They are minimalist, easy to understand, super simple, high quality, natural, cruelty-free, and for the whole family.

So, that was the beginning of RaGaNaturals.

Take us through the process of designing, prototyping, and manufacturing your first product or service- what was that like?

Thanks to our son, we already had a great product that had demand and a place in the market. That product was created out of the passion and desperate need of a new mother. I totally enjoyed formulating it. But to bring it as a viable, sellable product was entirely another story. What no one tells entrepreneurs is that creating a product is just a small part of the business. You might have the best product in the world, but if you can’t show the users your vision, it wouldn’t stand a chance.

Our first product, Soothing Fragrance-Free Body Cream, is to date one of our best-selling products.

We started looking for perfect packaging. There are so many options to choose from these days. I wanted something very practical, high quality, and economical. I ordered tons of samples before finalizing these beautiful amber bottles with teardrop pumps for lotions. It felt like my vision of bringing raw, organic, minimalist skincare was right on the table in that bottle. I am very happy with the packaging to date.

But believe it or not, choosing the right packaging and labels was one of the most stressful things in the whole process.

Describe launching the company… Where did you start?

Then came the launch. In the beginning, I hired freelancers to work on the website. It was very fast and very cost-effective.

This is my first experience as an entrepreneur. I reached out to friends and family for word-of-mouth marketing. I contacted like-minded people and gave them samples to try out. They loved the product and the idea behind it and did not mind sharing it with their wider community. People are usually very helpful if you ask for help with a plan.

I also did pop-up stands at local events, and that also was very successful. I love connecting with people and can talk for hours about my idea and vision. I think people get the vibe. I know if I can get an opportunity to talk to my client, I can sell them my idea. Plus, it is always fun to discuss what I am passionate about.

The biggest lesson that I learned during the whole process of launching is that it’s better to start as soon as possible than to wait for everything to be perfect. Waiting for things to be perfect wastes a lot of time. However, one should never compromise on the product and values.

What has worked to attract & retain customers so far?

It is the communication and the product. The product has to speak for itself. You have to fulfill the promises you have made. People do have lots of questions, and I am proud that they are comfortable writing emails to ask them, as they believe that there is a real human behind the computer. I try my best to take control of customer service as much as possible.

We have a very high customer retention rate. I am very grateful for this.

In terms of strategy, social media and effective advertisement at various marketplaces help us get the initial footprint of the customer. But then it is all on the product.

How are things going today and what does the future look like?

Things are progressing in the very right direction. We have a better understanding of our customer and most importantly, our customers understand us. I am very proud of where we are now, standing tall, promoting nothing but our values. I am happy that people connect to it and trust us. That is helping more and more people join our family of RaGaNaturals.

Any advice for others who are just starting out?

It is never too early to start. Be ready to learn from your mistakes and make improvements and keep going.

What’s the best way for people to connect and follow you? Website, Social Profiles, Etc…

We love connecting to people and sharing our passion and ideas with them and learning from them. The best way to reach out to me is by email at contactus@raganaturals.com or on Instagram, Facebook, Amazon, or Walmart.